Darren Adam Heitner, Esq. is the Founder of HEITNER LEGAL, Founder/CEO of Dynasty Dealings, LLC, Professor of Sport Agency Management at Indiana University Bloomington, Co-Founder of Collegiate Sports Advisors (CSA) and Founder/Chief Editor of Sports Agent Blog, a leading niche industry publication. He is an attorney licensed to practice on the state and federal level, and focuses on sports, entertainment, and intellectual property litigation and transactional work.
Darren is the author of How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know (published by the American Bar Association), Contributing Writer of An Athlete’s Guide to Agents, 5th Edition, and has authored many sports, entertainment and intellectual property-related Law Journal articles.
Darren has a Bachelors of Arts from the University of Florida and a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from the same institution.

NFL Replacement Referees Have Compromised The Game's Integrity And League's Position On Sports Betting

MIAMI GARDENS, FL - SEPTEMBER 16: NFL replacement referees discuss a play during a game between the Miami Dolphins and the Oakland Raiders at Sun Life Stadium. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

If you want to see the twenty-eight worst mistakes that NFL replacement referees made during Week 2, sports commentary website Deadspinhas the breakdown. If there is interest in reading about all of the blunders in real time, just do a Twitter search of “replacement ref” and follow the myriad of tweets attacking the replacement referees’ decisions (or general indecision, which has been criticized for slowing down NFL games). A player slipped on a referee’s thrown hat in the end zone, a referee reportedly told Philadelphia Eagles running back LeSean McCoy that he needed him to perform well for his fantasy football team, and multiple referees appear to be having trouble remembering how many timeouts remain for various teams.

The result of constant replacement referee missteps is an abundance of questions asking whether the integrity of the NFL game is in serious jeopardy. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines integrity as “firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values.” For a league that has been hell-bent to prevent the demise of its product, its hard-line approach in the ongoing negotiations with the NFL Referees Association is apocryphal.

The NFL is currently a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the State of New Jersey’s Governor, Assistant Attorney General, and Executive Director of the New Jersey Racing Commission, which seeks to prevent the state of New Jersey from establishing a sports gambling system. In 2009, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell explained that “NFL owners and players have worked hard from the league’s inception nearly 90 years ago to protect its integrity,” and thus, the NFL has taken the position that gambling on NFL games should be prohibited. Goodell’s stance has not changed since he first expressed that opinion.

On August 10, the NCAA, NBA, MLB, NHL, and NFL filed a motion for summary judgment in its suit against New Jersey. Commissioner Roger Goodell drafted a declaration in support of the motion, which makes many references to the integrity of football, including,

“As Commissioner of the NFL, my most important responsibility is maintaining the integrity of professional football, and preserving public confidence in the NFL.

The great popularity of NFL football, and the goodwill it has achieved with its fans and the public as a whole, is rooted in the integrity of the game itself. NFL football stands for clean, healthy competition, and rewards hard work, dedication, and honest effort. Maintaining these values and the highest integrity of the game of professional football is a critical aspect of the NFL’s goodwill.

The spread of sports betting, including the introduction of sports betting as proposed by the state of New Jersey, threatens to damage irreparably the integrity of, and public confidence in, NFL football.

Once the character and integrity of NFL football have been compromised, and the bonds of loyalty and devotion between fans and teams have been broken, NFL football will have been irreparably injured in a manner that cannot adequately be calculated in dollars.” (emphasis added)

Has the imposition of replacement referees compromised the character and integrity of NFL football? Arguably, the character and integrity of NFL football has been damaged (at least temporarily). Further, Roger Goodell’s stance on sports betting has become almost disingenuous. How can he claim that the spread of sports betting (which is completely legal in Nevada) threatens to irreparably damage the integrity of NFL football while he continues to employ replacement referees that are unjustly affecting the outcome of NFL games? If Goodell’s most important responsibility is maintaining integrity, then he has some explaining to do. The National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) agrees.

On September 20, the NFLPA sent a letter to owners of all NFL teams concerning the claimed negative impact on football resulting from the NFL’s lockout of referees. The second paragraph of the letter says,

“Your decision to lock out officials with more than 1,500 years of collective NFL experience has led to a deterioration of order, safety and integrity. This affirmative decision has not only resulted in poor calls, missed calls and bad game management, but the combination of those deficiencies will only continue to jeopardize player health and safety and the integrity of the game that has taken decades to build.” (emphasis added)

The overarching concern for the NFL should be that the replacement referees’ influence negatively affects the outcome of individual games and/or lead to disinterest in the game among casual fans. An unintended consequence; however, could be that the league’s failure to do everything in its power to protect the integrity of the game through a resolution with the NFL Referees Association has a spillover effect in its pending litigation aimed to prevent states, such as New Jersey, from implementing sports betting schemes. How can Commissioner Goodell say that protecting the integrity of NFL football is his pinnacle concern while he allows replacement referees to continue to botch fumble calls and fail to stop the clock on incomplete passes?

Post Your Comment

Post Your Reply

Forbes writers have the ability to call out member comments they find particularly interesting. Called-out comments are highlighted across the Forbes network. You'll be notified if your comment is called out.

Comments

To NFL Commissioner Goodell league integrity = His power and league money, If they wanted sports betting in NJ, all they had to do was cut the NFL in on it! Nothing trumps money and power to this Despot! Not player safety, fan experience, team locale loyalty, NOTHING!

The regular refs make stupid calls too. Just because it is replacement refs, everyone is watching intently. Yes there are some worse than normal calls/non-calls… But people act like the normal refs never miss anything.

I can’t believe all the bad calls they been making but they are trying the best they can but last nights game that kick was no good but they called it good. But this going too cost a lot of teams chances going too the Super Bowl from so many bad calls that could of let a team win a game.

The legal argument tying the referee lock out to legalised betting on the NFL is a bit of a stretch. The games and products of the game belong to the NFL and betting sites would profit from use of the product, therefore, the NFL, NCAA, and other sports bet upon, should receive royalties, or individual fee for each bet placed on their product. But, more importantly, the replacement officials are such a drag on the game that all aspects of the games are compromised, and as is argued here, the credibility of the league and its commitment to excellence have indeed been compromised. And since this is a lock out and not a strike, the NFL has a heightened culpability in the matter. In my opinion, however, not enough to become a mitigating factor in the New Jersey situation.

But the NFL’s argument isn’t that it should be entitled to royalties or fees based on the product. Instead, the league and Goodell make great effort to stress that allowing betting will forever tarnish the integrity of the game. How can that claim be made while 1) sports betting is legal in Nevada; and 2) the NFL is allowing games to be played with replacement refs? Are there no questions about integrity?

What about the games now being fixed? I can just see a rich NFL player telling a ref that there was 10 large in it if he tosses or does not toss a flag… right in the middle of the game….what do these replacment refs have to lose…their job…of 3 weeks…! Vegas Is all about this this week. Every sport book has a line on a guy doing a game that can be bought…Thanks to the NFL the NFL is now mob run… Want to make a bet? Sport books are using terms to let insiders know if the refs are “in” or “out”…this is so crazy…every game may be for sale next week. A good thing if you are an insider but if not…hold off until the real deal gets back.

You are using “integrity” as a weasel word and your argument is fallacious.

There is a difference between a loss of integrity in the game because the game is officiated poorly and one where the game is officiated to achieve an ulterior motive, ie to cover someone’s bet.

PAC 12 road football games lack integrity because they don’t take their own refs on the road and their teams consistently lose games on critical, disputed calls. But that doesn’t mean they are ‘fixed’ and lack integrity in ways that would create problems with governmental agencies.

I am using “integrity” as it is defined by a respected dictionary. You are welcome to disagree with my position, but to say the argument is fallacious when the NFLPA and Roger Goodell consistently use it as a crutch is not a fair assessment. I do not believe the only way integrity is lost is if there is an overt motive to fix games.

Disgusting! I have never seen disregard for integrity and/or player safety, shame on the owners and Commissioner Goodell. How dare you pinch pennies and risk the player’s safety in the name of profitability… terrible. The players make the game not owners> Everyone who has made this horrible stance a reality is culpable in the injuries of the players who make this game what it is. The owners, shame on you… Commish… shame on you.. Players in this abominable situation… I applaud you! I am done watching until the REAL officals come back. No disrespect to the ref’s trying to do their best but, really?

We’re done watching the nfl. That’s it after this green bay game our family just cannot watch anymore. How could you call that a touchdown at the end when it was an interception? I am throwing up over this because after watching and loving a game for 40 years I cannot even watch it anymore. I will never watch nfl again, I cannot believe RG would allow this to happen? The nfl needs to fire that loser..